Steve Ballmer Moves On From Lawyer Who Called NBA Probe a ‘Witch Hunt’

Steve Ballmer is no longer working with the attorney who issued a fiery letter criticizing NBA commissioner Adam Silver on the day the league handed down its punishment for the Kawhi Leonard salary cap circumvention scandal, Front Office Sports has learned.

David Kelley of O’Melveny & Myers is the lawyer who signed the Sept. 2 letter to Silver, which called the investigation into alleged salary cap circumvention a “witch hunt.” The law firm has also been representing Ballmer in an investor lawsuit against Aspiration founder Joseph Sanberg, in which the former Microsoft CEO is one of the defendants (Aspiration was the first company that Pablo Torre discovered had seemingly paid Leonard under a “no-show” endorsement deal. Three other companies were named in the league’s findings: Daktronics, Boingo Wireless, and Lockton Insurance.)

Although O’Melveny is still listed on the docket for that case, last month there were two filings that show Ballmer has a new law firm advising him: Simpson Thacher.

Three sources familiar with the matter tell FOS that Ballmer is no longer actively working with Kelley or O’Melveny. Two sources say Ballmer had hired Kelley specifically to work on the NBA-related matters he was dealing with, and that the change was made because there was no arbitration process for Ballmer to pursue in the Leonard situation. While the suspended Clippers owner had initially indicated he planned to fight the league’s findings and punishments, he has since reversed course.

One source says Simpson Thacher partner Rafi Prober has and will continue to serve as Ballmer’s primary attorney for “general” legal matters, and that Prober has brought in Bill Burck, a partner at Quinn Emmanuel, to assist him. Simpson is among the law firms that have been building up their sports practices, including bringing in three heavy hitters earlier this year: Michael Kuh, Eric Geffner from Sidley Austin, and Matthew Carpenter-Dennis.

Representatives for Ballmer, the Clippers, and O’Melveny declined to comment. Kelley did not respond to a request for comment.

The news that Ballmer is moving on from Kelley comes roughly one month after the NBA released findings from the yearlong investigation conducted by law firm Wachtell Lipton into the Leonard situation. 

The league levied a substantial punishment: Ballmer was banned from the league for a year, and the Clippers were fined $30 million and stripped of five first-round draft picks beginning in 2029. Wachtell’s investigation determined the Clippers illegally circumvented the league’s salary cap by funneling millions of dollars to Leonard through third parties.

The same day those findings were released, Kelley issued a letter calling the claims against the Clippers “baseless” and admonishing Silver for “irreparably” damaging Ballmer’s reputation.

“This investigation has been flawed from the outset,” the letter said. “And your decision to issue this report without any notice to the Clippers or their counsel is inexcusable. This type of witch hunt flies in the face of fundamental fairness and of the integrity of the league and of this sport that we all love. We are exploring every legal remedy to address this gross injustice.”

Just over a week later, the New York Times reported that the U.S. Department of Justice launched a probe into the situation. A few days after that, Ballmer publicly accepted the NBA’s punishment. He apologized to “fans, employees, and my fellow team owners,” and said that “while there are still disagreements concerning the findings in the report, this is not where I want to focus.”

Prior to Ballmer’s social media post, former DOJ trial attorney Michael Weinstein told FOS his advice would be to “batten down the hatches.”

“Everything the Clippers were threatening to do, thumping their chest and going after the NBA to be disruptive and challenge the report, their lawyers are likely telling them, ‘hold on, let’s sit tight,’” said Weinstein, who now works at law firm Cole Schotz. “If they go on offense against the NBA, everything they do becomes fodder for the government in its investigation.”

Kelley, the former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, has represented other high-profile clients besides Ballmer. 

In 2024, he advised Don Henley in a dispute over handwritten lyric sheets that had been seized by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, which the Eagles frontman claimed should be returned to him. That case, filed in June 2024, settled the following year. He also advised former FBI director James Comey in a suit from Carter Page, a former campaign advisor to President Donald Trump. There, Carter accused FBI officials, including Comey, of privacy rights violations tied to a probe into potential election interference by Russia. That case was dismissed, and Page was unsuccessful in an attempt to get the Supreme Court to take it up.